Title: Angels on the Hellmouth Rewrite
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Fifth Series of Buffy, None for Dogma
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or Dogma. I would buy them but I am broke.
Summary: Everyone knows the Hellmouth is the playground for Vampires and Demons, but no one realised that there were a couple of real life Angels running around as well. Not even the Angels themselves.
A/N: While Metatron is played by Alan Rickman like in Dogma, I have used the movie Legion as the basis of the Michael character, as played by Paul Bettany. Michael is a much more… militant character than Metatron.
It was two am and both Alex and Tara were sitting on the roof of the Magic Box, staring up at the twinkling stars above. Tara was sitting between Alex's legs, leaning back against his chest while he had an arm wrapped around her midriff, his own back up against the small wall that cordoned off the flat roof.
Not much had happened with the group after their… re-emergence. Giles had been in awe of having met Metatron. Dawn and Willow were confused by what had happened. Anya was afraid the Angels were going to strike her down. On top of that the entire gang was trying to recover from the shock and blood curdling screams from the re-emergence. Giles had closed the shop, to everyone's surprise Anya had not objected, and everyone had gone their own way to process what had happened. Alex and Tara had come up to the roof and spent the time since merely watching the splendour of creation and trying to reconcile the short lives of Xander Harris and Tara Maclay with the eons of the Angelic Alex and Tara.
For Xander, his relation with Anya was always a conflicting mix of emotions that was more about not being alone than being with her specifically. Willow had given Xander a sister, Jessie had been a best friend, Giles a father figure to look up to, Buffy a hero to follow and a cause in trying to keep her safe. For Alex, Tara had always been his entire world, with only the Creator coming close to his affection for her and that was more a sense of duty to the Creator than the loving affection he held for Tara. Metatron had been a mentor, Michael a brother in arms. While the core of Alex had resided in Xander, the inability to turn away from a righteous fight, the mortal had none of the inner strength that personified the Angel of Loyalty. That pillar of strength that had helped shape the entire universe, and the depth of emotion that allowed Alex to empathise with the enemy and use that empathy to defeat them. For Xander it was black and white, for Alex it was endless shades of grey.
Tara the Witch had much more of Tara the Angel in her than Xander had Alex. It was Willow's emotional vulnerability that had drawn Mortal Tara's attention to her. With the harsh treatment that Mortal Tara had endured at the hands of men in home town, it was not surprising that Moral Tara had turned to women for relationships, but she still needed that close affection and tenderness. It was something that she needed at a basic level. Both Tara the Witch and Tara the Angel would prefer not to fight if the option was available, but Tara the Angel had long since learnt that one sometimes had to fight to protect what was most precious, something that Tara the Witch had only just started to learn.
Time passed, the stars moved in the heavens, and the two Angels simply sat and watched. Time had a different meaning to those who had been present at the creation of the universe.
The gang had regathered on the main floor of the Magic Box the next morning. Giles and Willow had been bombarding Alex and Tara with a million and one questions about History and Mythology, while Anya stood at the counter counting the money and Dawn was pretending to read while she watched the two Angels, seeing elements of her sister's friends mixed with something new and powerful, or more accurately old and powerful. The ring of the bell over the door caused everyone's attention to shift to the new entrant. Dressed all in black, including a long coat, with close cropped hair the new entrant looked like a warrior and he held a duffle bag in each hand.
"Michael!" both Alex and Tara exclaimed together as they stood from the table.
"Alex. Tara." Michael said curtly. "Brought your gear."
"Thank you, old friend." Alex said, clasping forearms with Michael.
Tara on the other hand gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Taking a step back, she looked into his eyes, seeing frustration and resignation there.
"You're not going to be in on this, are you?" Tara asked.
"Not this time." Michael replied. "Creator's orders. She said that after the ceremony, you are on your own from our end. The Voice is out making the preparations."
Tara simply nodded before picking up the duffle Michael had placed at her feet and following Alex into the back room. With Giles and Willow having fallen into their own conversation, Michael moved over to the table and sat down next to Dawn.
"Hello. I'm Dawn Summers." Dawn said.
"Archangel Michael." Michael replied. "And we all know who you are, Dawn."
"Because of the Key thing?" Dawn asked, slightly deflated.
"No. That may be part of what you are, but it is not who you are." Michael replied. "We all know because of your actions on that tower, your willingness to sacrifice yourself for the world."
"How did you hear about that?" Dawn asked. "Only Buffy was there and I have not told anyone."
"But she did." Michael replied.
"She? You mean Buffy?" Dawn said in shock.
That got the attention of Giles and Willow.
"Yeah." Michael replied with a shrug. "She tells that tale anytime someone asks how she ended up upstairs. All the other Slayers are usually pretty jealous of how long she lasted as an active, but when she tells that one they think it is both incredibly heart-warming and so cool that you guys took on a Hell-God. Joyce is kind of relieved that Buffy has some other Slayers that she can hang out with and enjoys baking for their get togethers."
"Huh?" Willow said eloquently.
"You have actually seen Buffy?" Giles said. "And other Slayers?"
"Of course." Michael said. "I do live in Heaven you know, and Slayers are kind of like Celebrities for humans up there. Most humans need a full induction when they arrive, so they get the briefing on Slayers, Demons, The Fallen, the whole scene. We've actually got one of you Watchers doing the spiel now. Saves a fair bit of time that; you guys having most of the speech memorised before you come up."
"Do all Angels hang around with humans in Heaven?" Giles asked.
"No, some are too aloof, others just don't understand humans and others are jealous of humans. When God decreed Humans were his favoured, I was the first in all of Heaven to bow down before you."
"You beat me by half a millisecond and you still go on about it." Tara said, emerging from the back room. "And Alex was right behind us both."
Tara and Alex looked quite at ease and moved with a fluid gait as they re-entered the room. They were equipped for War, with their armour on, minus Alex's helmet, and weapons resting comfortably at their waists, with the exception of Tara's bow which was in a case on her back that rested between her wings without interfering with them. Tara's hand absently counted the number of arrows in the quiver on her right hip with the tips of the fingers of her right hand while her left hand adjusted on of the straps on her half breastplate. Alex, on the other hand, had a slight grin on his face while his left hand rested on the pommels of his paired swords.
"Did Metatron happen to mention when the Ceremony would be happening?" Alex asked. "Because I would not be surprised if Tara wants to take the girls out dress shopping before then."
Tara quickly cuffed Alex over the back of the head.
"I think it will be in one week." Michael replied. "But you'd have to confirm that with The Voice."
"Umm… what ceremony?" Willow asked.
"Our wedding." Alex replied.
"Oh." Willow said, blinking for a few seconds before passing out.
"She took that well." Alex said, earning a roll of the eyes from Tara.
"Does that mean we are breaking up?" Anya asked. "Do I get all the money?"
Giles pinched the bridge of his nose, Dawn buried her face in her palms and this time Alex rolled his eyes.
"Interesting Protectors you have chosen." Michael said.
TBC…